The Train whistle blew, children and parents swarmed towards the train, last reminders were yelled. Karista looked up and down the platform and gave her father one last nod before entering the crowd around the train. Her pure black cats claws dug into her arm and his icy green eyes looked up at her, She felt his anxiety wash over her body and settle in her stomach. His silky voice broke into her conscious "Are you sure you want to do this? We were perfectly happy at home… and you were learning tons!"
"Happy?" she replied, "Lita, we were living in a cage! Yes I'm positive I want to go!" answering the anxious cat through their connection.
"Alright…" he sighed.
She clambered up into the train and walked down the train looking for someone she knew or at least a compartment that wasn't full. Her long gently curling golden hair flowed out behind her as she walked, sun kissed skin played across her soft face beautifully. Someone behind her said some thing, she wasn't quite sure what, but she knew it was about her. She whipped around and turned her delicate almond shaped eyes at a group of boys. They all jumped at the sight of two ghostly silver eyes glaring at them.
In her head, Lita snickered. "Nice job, your already scaring them away."
"Shut up Lita." She snapped back, she continued her search, soon enough she found a compartment with only three boys in it. Two were first years, for they had no colors, the last looked to be a second or third year. The boy closest to the window was tall and, had flaming red hair, and a rather long nose. The other by the window had messy black hair, broken glasses and emerald green eyes they peered curiously at her. The last boy looked up at her as she entered, his jaw dropped for a split second.
She glared at him challenging him to say something. He averted his eyes for a moment, then looked back at her, challenging her, as if to size her up. His eyes were a deep blue, so deep, she felt like she was going to fall in if she didn't do something soon. She looked at his tie, a Slytherine. His skin was pale, but not too pale, and he also had messy hair, but his was dark brown.
"Mind if I sit here?" she finally managed to say, her Irish accent sounded thick even to her.
"Knock yourself out," Said the Redhead.
She had just sat down when a bushy haired girl with buckteeth appeared. "Have you seen a toad?" she asked.
"Saw it a little ways back." Lita thought to Karista.
"Which way?" she inquired
"Left."
"I saw it a little ways back," Karista told the bushy haired girl. "Just turn left."
"Thanks!" the girl replied flashing a buck toothed smile and bustled off.
"I'm Ron," the red head said. "Ron Weasley and he's Harry…"
"Harry Potter." She cut in, "I know" she turned he eyes to the Slytherine "And you are?"
"I didn't catch your name." He said arrogantly.
She narrowed her eyes. "Karista Aitkin, and I never gave it"
"Well Miss Aitkin," he said "I can already tell Gryffindor is going to have a new fire ball, and I cant help but be jealous, they get all the interesting people."
"Hey!" Ron said.
"He's talking about her…." Harry said.
"Oh." Ron said in a subdued tone.
"Empty flattery." She said.
"And who said so?" asked the Slytherine, raising an eyebrow.
"I did."
"I see, to bad you already loathe me… we could have been such great friends…" he shut his book and stood up and turned towards Harry. "Do stay away from the Malfoy's Harry." He added and swept out saying "Quinn Andrews by the way."
"What a snob!" Lita said.
"I'll say!" she replied, turning back to face Ron and Harry. They both stared at the spot where he had been a moment before, then looked up at her. "Sorry…" she mumbled. An awkward silence followed.
The bushy haired girl rushed back in and squealed, "we found it!" A short plump boy stood nervously behind her, the bushy girls eyes caught on Lita, "Oh! What's your cat's name? She's so beautiful!" she said.
"I am a boy!" He yowled, outraged. He turned his icy green eyes on her; she jumped at the piercing stare.
"His name is Lita." Karista said.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I must have just assumed!"
Lita promptly turned his back on her, "and you should be sorry." Karista frowned down at him.
"Well you do act rather girly… you're so vain!"
"Hrmph…"
"I'm Hermione Granger." The bushy haired girl said
"Karista Aitkin."
"Like… the head auror?"
Karista tensed at her father's mention, "unfortunately, yes." She said curtly.
"Oh." Hermione said, the plump boy tapped her shoulder and they left.
She looked down at Lita. "Can't you even try to be polite?"
A jolly first year broke the silence with his Irish accent. "Ay Karista! How's it going? I haven't seen you since last month when we did our school shopping!"
"Seamus!" she said, grinning. "It has been a while, hasn't it? I'm not doing too bad…"
"It's your dad again, isn't it?"
She sighed. "Yeah… he's just so…"
"Frustrating? To the book?"
"Yeah."
XXXXXXX
The Train screeched to a halt, compartment doors flew open everywhere. Excited chatter spilled out from everywhere around her, Karista swept Lita up into her arms once more and joined the others jumping down from the train. The second she jumped down she heard someone yelling "Firs' years! This way!" She followed the voice to an extremely large man. And got wedged into a small boat between the plump boy she's seen on the train and a pale boy with a pointed face and white blonde hair.
"Hello Draco." She said coldly.
"Karista," he said silkily, "I just know your going to be in Slytherine with me."
"Your as arrogant as ever," she said. "And I definitely don't want to be in Slytherine."
"Who wouldn't want to be in Slytherine?" He said "All the real wizarding families go there."
"Is that what they've been teaching you in that dark hole you call a home?" she asked.
He frowned. "And just when I thought we were getting to be friends."
She snorted "Us? Friends? That's the best joke you've ever told, Draco!" she said "I'm only nice to you when Daddies there to protect you." She added nastily. "And don't you dare tell your father! My father could have you unseated in thirty seconds."
Draco opened his mouth as if he had something to say, then closed it promptly. Lita snickered "he's been asking for that for years!"
"Yeah" she replied looking up the hill to the mountain. The boats lurched to a stop, she leaped onto the shore and laughed when Draco tripped and got his robes soaked up to the knees.
They were led up to the brightly lit castle and told to wait in the great hall. Draco stepped out in front of the crowd, "is it true then? What they've been saying on the train… that Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts?"
The crowd of first years broke out into fervent whispers. "Yes he has." Ron said loudly. ?" Karista fought the urge to slap her forehead, if you haven't known the Malfoys for years its really very stupid to stand up to them.
"Red hair and hand me down robes… you must be a Weasley." Draco said. "You will soon find Potter, that some wizarding families are better than others, I can help you there."
Harry's emerald green eyes met Draco's; "I think I can figure that out for myself." He replied coldly. Karista exhaled, she hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath. Professor Magonagal then entered the great hall and told them to fallow her. They filed into the dining hall and stood marveling the sky like ceiling and the floating candles.
As they waited Karista chanced a glance at the Slytherine table, her eyes caught on Quinn who looked up and grinned at her. She snapped her gaze back to the front where Prof. Magonagal was placing the sorting hat. The butterflies broke free from the cages in her stomach.
"Stop that!" Lita ordered. "You're putting me off my sausage."
"And where did you get the food?"
"Kitchens! The house elves here are great!"
She frowned and let the butterflies continue, Lita could deal, he was too spoiled.
"Hannah Abbot?" Prof. Magonagal said.
A timid girl stepped forward, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat bellowed.
"Karista Aitkin?" Prof. Magonagal inquired next.
The butterflies rose up to her throat as she approached the hat. "I thought I told you to stop that!" Lita broke the silence again as the hat was lowered onto her head.
"SHUT UP!" she bellowed at him, but it was too late, the hat knew her secret.
"You are very unlucky." Said a rough voice in her head, it was the sorting hat.
"Why's that?" she shot back.
"Don't you know what will happen if your familiar dies?"
"Yes" she answered, tearing up "I will die with him."
"And he will die with you."
"I know." She said.
"I haven't seen one of your type for over three centuries." Said the hat "usually they go mad or kill them selves before they turn 11. Your quite brave to go through that amount of pain."
"WILL YOU PICK ALREADY!" She didn't need another lecture on how careful she needed to be with Lita again. Yes, her mother had given birth to not just a baby girl, but a cat too. It had driven her mad and ultimately killed her. Because of their life long bond, they shared emotions, pain, and thoughts.
"Fine then." The hat said grumpily. "GRYFINDOR!" it bellowed. The red and gold table leapt up and roared with applause. She quickly brushed away her tears and looked over to Quinn with a smug look. He looked quite gloomy.
Soon enough all the others had been sorted. Fred and George, Ron's older brothers noticed she seemed upset, so they cracked some jokes about Slytherine. The feast continued merrily but all Karista could think about was what could happen to Lita and herself while they were at school. She picked at her pie, something she would normally devour. What if she couldn't protect him while she was in class?
Her food disappeared at last, the whole hall looked up at Professor Dumbledore, who warned them off the third floor corridor. Ron's other brother Percy told the first years to follow him to the Gryffindor common room, they followed him up the complicated moving staircase the portrait of the fat lady. "Caput Draconus" Percy said. The portrait swung forward to show a cozy looking room with squishy armchairs and a crackling fire.
Karista climbed the stairs to the girl's dormitory with Hermione at her side chattering excitedly. A great feeling a relief flowed through her when she was reunited with Lita. "First you put me off my sausage and then you make it feel like there are dementors around! Honestly!" he chided.
"Hmmmm…" Karista replied sleepily as she climbed into bed. Lita curled up around her neck and purred until they fell asleep.
